Apple 1 computer fetches US$905,000 at Bonhams

An Apple 1 computer was recently put up for auction at Bonhams auction house and it stole the show to become the most expensive Apple computer to have ever been sold with the hammer being struck at US$905,000.

Apple made just 200 of their Apple 1 computers and these were the first ever personal computers from Apple to make their way onto the market. The computer comprised of a vintage keyboard along with a Sanyo monitor. The recently sold computer was one of the first 50 made and today is among the handful that are actually working.

The Apple 1 had been expected to raise bids of around $300,000 to $500,000. However, it surprised everyone and bids kept on going and going, until eventually stopping at US$905,000. The successful bid was from a representative of the Henry Ford Museum from Michigan.

Cassandra Hatton on behalf of the Henry Ford Museum said: "The provenance on the Apple-1 is excellent and the condition is outstanding, so it was not surprising that it did so well. We are thrilled to have broken the world record for its sale, and are even more thrilled that it is going to a wonderful new home at the Henry Ford Museum."

Along with the Apple 1 computer there were other relics from the scientific world on offer at the auction. One of these was a Helmholtz Sound Synthesizer. This was said to be the first electric keyboard to ever have been made and it sold for $20,000.

Some relics didn’t go down as well as these with members of the auction. They included a window pane from the Manhattan Project that had been estimated to sell for between $150,000 and $250,000. The window had given a view of the production of plutonium for the Fat Man atomic bomb, but it failed to sell.